The Budget Gaming PC thread
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Page 99

Razz wrote:
@Sandbox Cheers man, having an odd problem at the moment. I've connected the PSU motherboard cpu and ram only. When I stat up the PC I get continuous beeps and after about 10 seconds it resets. Any ideas? There is no beep guide in the manual
I've tried starting it up without RAM, new RAM, and RAM from other computers around the house, still the same issue. I've tried the CPU in my other computer and it starts just fine. No idea o_O

Ummm, stupid question but have you connected the graphics card? Loads of beeps is usually that or some kind of problem with RAM. Maybe try one stick and then the other.

I haven't connected the Graphics card, it has onboard video. I've tried swapping the ram and cpu with other computers around the house. No joy I haven't tried popping in a graphics card though. I'll give that a try!

Sandbox wrote:
Only time I had this was when I had forgotten to connect the 4 pin CPU power, and when I did the PSU was duff, so perhaps try another PSU?

Could try removing the CMOS battery for a few mins. to see if the BIOS has its knickers in a twist. If not then you may just have a duff motherboard.

That's a good call, I did that with the 4 pin CPU power thing too. It could be that the motherboard is set for a gfx card rather than using onboard. I don't suppose the motherboard has jumpers or anything that needs changing? Jumpers are so ten years ago

@Sandbox The motherboard is a dud, mate came round and we ran some tests. The CPU is not receiving any power from the board. I'm returning it and a new one is coming tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have better luck this time!

I always find choosing a motherboard a bit of a stab in the dark as there are 100's of the fucking things and only a handful ever get a full review.

MSI H77MA-G43 H77 - about £58 on ebuyer/amazon

This one seems ok, see if it fits your needs, better chip set (H77 vs H61) has a couple of SATA6's and 4 RAM slots.

I have used a few MSI boards and they seem to be ok, to be honest I have had the most luck with cheap ASROCK boards, but I built a number of machines at work using MSI and they have been fine, just note this one has no optical out, if that's important.

Gigabyte were always solid, but recently they seem to be having a few issues. Then again, my Asus board at home always tells me I have no CPU fan, and think I do as my wheezing Phenom would have caught fire by now.

OK sharpen the knives, PC fans, but I'm thinking of picking up one of the newer X51 machines from Dell/Alienware. They have a GTX660, an i7 and the only weakness for me is a lack of SSD.

Bearing in mind...

1) I lost patience and interest in building my own PC about five years ago, having been building my own since the 90s. Laziness plays a great part in this decision - I'd rather spend the time drinking.

2) I can get the X51 for less than the UK price excluding VAT.

3) It's a pain to source PC components online where I live and I'd rather avoid the faff of getting a local colleague to help out with the ordering.

4) The smaller form factor matters to me. The LED lighting can do one though, obviously. I'm hoping it's quieter than your average PC.

5) It's only for games, I'll stick with my Macbook for everything else.

...exactly how retarded would it be to go for the X51?

What might be the alternatives? Is the GTX660 going to be severely outdated in a year's time? Is the X51 fundamentally flawed, or is the only argument against it that's it's overpriced and Dell are tossers?

Have at me, people. Thanks in advance for any advice, and also for any interesting insults.

There a small form factor pc reviews and order now it's at £899. Which is cheaper than the i7 X51, but you get an overclocked i5 in the pcspecialist one. Had friends use these guys and they said positive things.

@RunningMan cheers for the suggestion. I'm not in the UK, which presents something of a problem, but it's great to see another option against which to grade the X51's performance and value proposition.

Anyways, I've been tasked with putting together a PC for a friends 12-year-old. He's a tight git, and I'm left with about £160 for the CPU, Mobo and RAM after all the other stuff he'll need.

It'll be mostly used for Minecraft and as much gaming as possible for this budget.

I'm out the PC building loop a bit, but I've been hearing that the AMDs are the way to go on this sort of budget.

I've pencilled in the following

AMD A10-5800K = 98.99
MSI FM2-A55M E33 = 42.98
4GB 1600MHZ = 23.99

165.96 - a tad over

If it helps, I have a old GPU sitting in a friends old PC that he doesn't use if that can help in anyway. Can't remember what it is now, but it cost about 90 quid off ebay about a year ago. My minds telling me a 9800GT but I'm not sure, I'll find out.

Roddles wrote:
Onboard graphics aren't fine at all for gaming. Faster RAM won't make it any more suitable.

You're going to need a graphics card of some kind. At a minimum I'd suggest the AMD 7850, otherwise you might aswell just play on a console.

No you don't. I bought a system based on that exact same thing (AMD A10-5800K) 6 months ago.
So far I've played Borderlands 2, Xcom, Just Cause 2 and Deus ex human revolution on it just fine.
Max Payne 3 was OK but has recently started to crash the PC.

So if he needs it for minecraft + "any game that will run" he should be fine with the on board card.